Will Virginia Lead the Way on School Choice, Homeschooling?

One of the silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic is the new trend of parents choosing to exercise their options when it comes to the education of their children. Much to the consternation of leftists, who seem to believe children belong to the state, not parents, more Americans are deciding to homeschool their children. In Virginia, the number of homeschoolers has increased drastically over the past few years.

The Washington Examiner reported:

The number of homeschoolers in Virginia has increased by nearly 40% since 2019, making up about 5% of Virginia’s total public school enrollment.

There are now around 62,000 homeschoolers in Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Education. That number is down slightly from more than 65,500 homeschoolers during the 2020-2021 school year.

Andrea Cubelo-McKay, president of the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers, told Virginia Mercury that many parents decided to homeschool their children after experiencing “Zoom fatigue” amid the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown orders.

“When public schools moved online, many students experienced Zoom fatigue, failing grades and other trouble learning in a virtual environment. They wanted an alternative,” she explained. “At the same time, more parents were working from home, had flexible schedules or were furloughed from their jobs. That made them more available for home schooling.”

But it wasn’t just the convenience of homeschooling that appealed to parents; They were also concerned about the material being taught in the classroom. When people realized teachers were infusing their lessons with concepts related to Critical Race Theory (CRT), a backlash ensued in which parents attended school board meetings and vociferously objected to the far-left ideology being presented to their children.

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